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She lifted her eyes to look at him, her lashes wet with her tears.
“You are done giving everything of yourself to this settlement. I would see it all burn before sacrificing a single hair on your head. We are both leaving this place, even if I have to throw you over my shoulder. Now, where is the closest shelter?”
Her nostrils flared as she tried to break out of his hold.
He tightened his grip, his voice lowering an octave. “You’re angry, good. You might even hate me right now, but if that gets you from one breath to the next, then hate me, Angel. But the fact is I’m your best shot at getting Everwood back.”
She stilled at his last comment. “Y-you have a plan?”
“Right now, the plan is to find shelter. It’s snowing and cold, if you haven’t noticed. Please, just point in the direction we need to go.”
She hesitated, her brain working overtime considering her options, then she lifted her chin and said, “Give me your word you’ll help me save them.”
“Angel, if you need my word, then you have it. I will do everything in my power to get Everwood back and rescue your father. I swear it.”
“Okay.” Shepointed to the east. “That way—in a few miles, there is a small cave.”
The firelight danced across the cave walls as he wrapped her left ankle with the torn hem of his shirt. It had taken considerably longer than he would have liked to get to the cave, given Eva’s injury, the lack of light, and the weather.
But when they arrived, he had been pleasantly surprised at the size, and thankfully there were some dried sticks and leaves inside that he could use to build a fire.The cave was shallow, but the interior curved, shielding them from the storm. And it was hidden well behind shrubbery. With luck on their side, they would be safe for tonight.
Eva winced as he tightened the bandage, then tied it off with a knot. “There. That will have to do for now.”
Easing back against the cave wall opposite her, the scent of smoke and mildew met his nose, and he took a deep breath. His ribs ached from the exertion, but he did his best to ignore it.
Eva studied the wrap on her ankle, inspecting it for flaws, but glanced at him every few seconds. She had hardly said a word since their argument outside of Everwood. She had only protested a little when he insisted on giving her a piggyback ride to the cave. But now, her eyes spoke volumes.She watched every move he made, as if she was waiting for him to betray her. He didn’t blame her for that—a member of her crew had breached her trust and put all of Everwood in danger. Even though they weren’t under Albert’s control, the threat was still very real for the two of them.
The fact was they didn’t have much time. Knowing the general, he would have men looking for them, even now. Their only saving grace would be the weather. The snow continued to fall as the wind kicked up, making visibility nearly impossible.
“What are you thinking about?”
He shook his head. “It’s not important. Why don’t you shut your eyes and rest? The next twenty-four hours are going to be tough. The general is going to have men hot on our trail. They will try to stop us from reaching Stone Haven.”
Her brows deepened. “Stone Haven, why would we—”
“You didn’t think I was going to get Everwood back for you all by myself, did you, Angel?”
Her eyes tightened at his words, and her chin tilted forward in defiance. “Tell me, Cillian, was it you that planted the bomb that blew up the caravan from the Skyline Sanctuary? You know, the explosion that supposedly took your memory.”
He leaned forward, his eye never leaving her face as he said, “You want to know if I’m the villain—Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, Angel, I’m not.”
She crossed her arms. “Tell me what happened that day. Hell, tell me anything that will make all of this make any sense.”
Picking up a stick and stoking the fire, he looked at the flames closely. “Last year, an avalanche triggered by an earthquake destroyed two homes, killing three people. I swore to the people of Stone Haven I would try to find a solution.” He set the stick down and rested his arms on his knees. “I had an idea that if we could use explosives to trigger smaller avalanches in a controlled, safe manner, maybe it would reduce the larger, unpredictable ones. It wasn’t long before I had a prototype assembled and was using the bombs successfully.”
He hesitated, lifting his eyes to meet hers.
“Albert Rush had become increasingly interested in my developments, but at the time, I didn’t think much of it. He’s cunning, the general... knows how to manipulate people when he has to.”
She nodded. “Go on.”
“We monitor our borders from the top of the mountain. With binoculars, you can see a lot of the area. The morning of the battle, our spotters caught sight of your crew moving south off of Everwood land and another group moving north toward them. The general was alerted to the movement by the spotter. He went to the border with some soldiers and one of my bombs.”
Cillian shook his head. “By the time I found out and realized what he was planning—what he had in his possession—I took a shortcut down the mountain with a couple of loyal soldiers. I was hoping to get to him before anything happened, but I ended up running into the group moving north, who turned out to be people from the Skyline Sanctuary. They told me they were headed to Everwood, so I asked to join them. I figured if I was with them, I could protect them.”
“Why didn’t you just tell your father and have him stop them?” Eva asked.
He looked away from her and took a deep breath. “There are things, Eva, about Stone Haven—about my father—that not many people know. H-he’s sick.” He swallowed hard, then said, “My father wants peace between the settlements. It’s obvious to me now, Albert’s desire to rule them both. He’s using my father’s condition to his advantage and acting on his own. I should have known, should have realized what he—”
